Tupac Shakur Biopic ‘All Eyez On Me’ Gets June Release Date, Acquired By Lionsgate


The long-awaited Tupac Shakur biopic is finally coming to a theater near you. All Eyez On Me featuring the Tupac lookalike Demetrius Shipp Jr. was recently picked up by Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment according to the Hollywood Reporter. The film will be released on June 16, which coincides with Tupac’s 46th birthday.

Heading up All Eyez On Me is director Benny Boom and Tupac Shakur twin Demetrius Shipp Jr. Also on board for the biopic are The Walking Dead‘s Danai Gurira playing Tupac’s mom Afeni Shakur and The Vampire Diaries‘ Kat Graham as Jada Pinkett. Jamal Woolard will be playing Biggie Smalls again, having already played him in the Biggie Smalls biopic Notorious.

Tupac Shakur’s death at just 25 years old was the end of an era in hip hop. All Eyez On Me tells the story of Tupac’s rise to fame and how that led to his tragic death. There are high hopes among Tupac fans that this retelling of the hip-hop legend will do him justice.

[Image by Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for MTV]

The Tupac biopic was initially a Morgan Creek Entertainment production. Although it has already filmed and is in post-production just waiting for release, All Eyez On Me was shifted to Lionsgate this week and will be released through Summit Entertainment, known for the Twilight and Divergent series as well as a handful of other very popular movies. All Eyez On Me is a shift from their usual genre but if the reputation of the production company is any indication, the Tupac retelling should do well.

There has been criticism of the film prior to its release due to the roulette of directors that the Tupac biopic originally endured. The spot was initially given to Carl Franklin, who is best known for High Crimes or Devil In A Blue Dress. Franklin ended up backing out of the All Eyez On Me project and Tupac fans got hyped when it was announced that John Singleton would be taking his place.

John Singleton also ended up backing out of the project, later throwing shade at the third and final director to take over the Tupac movie project. Benny Boom was best known for a lot of music videos including “Beez In The Trap” by Nicki Minaj and “Baby” by LL Cool J. Benny has a lot of credibility when it comes to making music videos but when it comes to movies, he is best known for Next Day Air in 2009 and that’s about it.

[Image by Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for MTV]

Benny Boom might be doing a bang-up job with All Eyez On Me but with nothing to go on, Tupac fans are hoping this movie will be mindblowing. So far, Jada Pinkett Smith did give a thumbs up to the casting of Kat Graham as the pre-Will Smith version of herself.

While Tupac’s Black Panthers activist mom passed away in May 2016 at the age of 69, she was reportedly involved with the Tupac biopic. Also, the choice of Danai Gurira to play the epic role of Tupac’s mom has been hailed by fans.

In an interview with Complex last year, Demetrius Shipp Jr. talked about his experience while filming All Eyez On Me. Shipp has really high hopes for the way audiences receive the Tupac biopic and thinks the film has the potential to be epic because Tupac ranks up near Michael Jackson in order of importance.

“This is one of the biggest biopics that will ever be done. Next to Michael Jackson, you know what I’m saying? As far as the people in the world that’s respected and loved when it comes to entertainment and as big as Pac, it’s Mike… 2Pac, Elvis or something like that? “

Do you think All Eyez On Me will be able to portray Tupac Shakur’s incredible life in the way that he deserves? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

[Featured Image by Zero Media/YouTube]

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